The initiative of Omunga, Movimento Jovens pela Autarquias and Friends of Angola aims to call on the National Assembly to urgently conclude the municipal legislative package, urge the Executive to include in the General State Budget 2023 a heading for the holding of municipal elections.
The press note on the action mentions that in Luanda the place chosen for the vigil was the atrium of the Sagrada Familia church and in Benguela, Largo da África, between 6 pm and 7:30 pm.
Meanwhile, the director of Omunga, João Malavindele, told Lusa that they were informed this Friday at 10:00 am by the government of Benguela province that they were not authorized to hold the vigil.
According to João Malavindele, the letter informing about the initiative was sent on the 6th of this month and only this Friday did they receive a response, which sends them to the municipal administration of Benguela for the identification of another location.
In turn, the municipal administration of Benguela replied that "to guarantee the safeguarding of the image and public heritage of the city" it did not authorize its realization in the chosen location, indicating the space adjacent to Liceu Comandante Kanssanje, zone A.
João Malavindele considered the orientation to be late, calling on those interested in participating to go to the initially indicated location, as they were very close to the time of the activity.
"This attitude of the authorities demonstrates once again the urgent need for the institutionalization of the municipalities, in order to allow greater speed in the responses requested by the citizens", highlighted the activist.
The organizers stress in the note that the current excessively centralized administration model has not contributed significantly to the participation of different segments of society in the management of local affairs, as the main decisions continue to be taken at the level of the capital, Luanda.
"To this end, the CRA [Constitution of the Republic of Angola] recognizes that local authorities and institutions of traditional power are organizational forms of local power (art. 213), with the right and ability to manage and regulate under the terms of the Constitution and the law, under its responsibility and in the interest of the respective populations, local public affairs (art.214)", emphasizes the document.
Angola had the year 2020 as an indicative date for holding the first municipal elections, but due to the covid-19 pandemic and because the municipal legislative package has not yet been completed, with 11 laws, ten of which have already been approved by the National Assembly, the same did not take effect.
The process of implementation of the autarchies divides the Government and the opposition parties, as well as civil society, with the first defending gradual institutionalization and the other part that it occurs simultaneously in all municipalities.
The parliament still has to discuss and approve the proposal for the Institutionalization of Local Authorities Law, seen as the main diploma of the legislative package.
